Credit cards are often used in today's society for various purposes, including electronic transactions. Many credit cards are basically a flat piece of plastic with raised numbers. The raised numbers are basically for legacy purposes; i.e., an old-style credit card device that takes an imprint of the raised letters. The credit card information is also encoded on a magnetic strip on the back of the credit card. Newer machines will simply read the information from the credit card's magnetic strip.
Credit card companies assess risk from a credit card transaction in different ways and pass on charges accordingly. Risk is often increased when the credit card itself is not actually used. Credit card companies will often charge extra service fees when the card is not physically present at the time of the transaction.
It has been suggested to use additional identifying information along with the credit information. For example, some credit cards include a photograph of the owner of the authorized user of the credit card. It has also been suggested to use biometric information in conjunction with a transaction, e.g., stored in a smart chip.